Google's new satellite has beamed back its first picture, taken the moment the on-board camera was switched on.

The crystal-clear image promises to make the internet giant's photographic atlas, Google Earth, even more detailed.

The satellite went live for the first time two days ago following its launch last month from a U.S. air force base in California.

Pin-sharp ... yet GeoEye-1's picture of Pennsylvania's Kutztown University campus was taken from 423 miles above

'This image captures what is in fact the very first location the satellite saw when we opened the camera door and started imaging,' said Brad Peterson, vice-president of GeoEye, the company behind the £300million satellite.

The picture, showing a university campus in Pennsylvania, was shot by the GeoEye-1 satellite from 423 miles up in space, yet looks like the view from a plane close to landing.

And the resolution will become even more precise, making GeoEye-1 the most accurate mapping satellite ever - reportedly 50 per cent better than previous generations.

'We expect the quality of the imagery to be even better as we continue the calibration activity,' said Mr Peterson.

In fact the images will be so precise that only the U.S. government will see them at full resolution - clearly showing objects just over 16in across.

Google, as the satellite's main sponsor, will have exclusive use of lower-resolution images for Google Earth and the associated Google Maps in a few months' time.

These will show objects 20in across - but that is a big improvement on the 24in resolution currently used by Google.

The search engine's co-founder Sergey Brin is a space enthusiast and has booked a seat on a future commercial flight to the International Space Station.